Picker construction



Aug. 14, 1951 yJ. H. CHADBOURNE PICKER CONSTRUCTION Filed Aprilv 16, 1945 BY uff www Patented Aug. 14, 1951 PICKER COS'IRTN .Joseph l-I. Chaglbolirna Danielson, fConn.,r Alasl .signor -to The `llJaielson :Manifaturing -.Coni Shanx, a-cor'po'ra'ition of Connecticut vhaving a'greatly increased dife.

Afsfurther--object of the invention is to provide al-rawhide machineelementwhich is self-lubricatving.

An additional object of the invention is to-provide.a-construction for r-a rawhide element which 4permits the element to be -kept in storage withoutbeing effectedrbyatmospheric conditions, heat and .moisture, .this v:feature being vparticularly valuable Afor yrawhide elements which are .used in textile .-machinery.

With `-the-.a`nove and `other .objects land advantageous -features in -view, lthe invention yconsists of a .novelrmethod .offmanufactureand a novel article ofvmanufacture :resulting therefrom, more fullydescribed in the detailed description followingi-n .conjunction with the .accompanying drawings, and more specifically `defined v.in the claims appended thereto.

vInthe drawings:

'.Fig. 1 .is..a.perspectiv.e view of a rawhide picker `embodying .the invention.;

Fig. 32 is -a centraltlongitudinal.section thereoi;

Fig. Bis .a .transverse section on the Aline ..3--3 ofFigfZ; and

Fig. .4 isadiagrammatic layout .of .the..manu factuing steps.

It .has .been vfound desirable Vto .improve the construction of laminated machine elements, such as "for example rawhide .pickers .for atextile loom, in order to obtain longer life and more .effective operation. "To .this end, .I vhave devised a novel manufacture whereby the rawhide is first impregnated with alubricant so .that the lubricant is suspended'between the interstices of the hide fibres; the article `is .then builtup 'from laminations of 'impregna-tedrawhide, with intermediate sheets of thermo-plastic material, and is then uniformly heated Vand molded to shape under proper heat and pressure conditions .so that an integral one-piece article results, made up of laminations .of lubricant vimpregnated rawhide bonded .together by thermo-plastic material, and if desired, completelysheathed .within athermoplastic covering.

(Cl. .13S-;)

Referring mto the drawings, which illu'stratively disclose a loom picker -m'ade zin accordance. with the invention, :the .picker '.ID Gcomprises rawhide laminations all which arefthoroughlyfimpregnated 'with 4fa suitable llubric'ant, @the vvilam-ination's being bonded :together by intermediate .layers 'il 2 yfof thermo-plastic fsmaterial, and having `an douter covering :.or sheath IS3 of 'thermo-plastic material.

-The :impregnationof lthe rawhide with asuitable lubricant -is accomplished #as follows. `Etihe hides as received at the hide curing plant .contain hair and foreign .rn-atter; ith'ey are fcompletely washed and fare t'then run throngh a cleaning machinel'oflstandard'type-which removes the fle'sh .and lthe "foreign matter an 'the"l:iiesh side of 'lthe "hide The hides are rthen placed in la ftank containing a '.very strongfsolution :of chemical lime, which yloos'ens up' the 'Ihaiir s'o l-that it'may bereadilyfremoved and `at the same neutralizes 'fthe amino acid's "present-.in the hides. Great caution'is exercised to retain thehidesand all fsolutions which .come in "contact with the hidesLonthe-alkaline fsideandathe hides are not allowed to "com'e in conta-ct with `l any yacid solution. Thus, 4certain hides "may yrequire the use of sodium sulfide to loosen v'the fhair'; .in :such ease, additional `amounts of `chemical lime `fare added 'to LIriaintain the vhides in 1an-alkaline condition.

`The vhides `normally 'remain .in .the vchemical lime tank Ifor an vextended vvperiod, v.usually Z4seven days, fand Vare fthen "removed from the -i-tanks, and the hair fis' thenremoved? by 'means of vstandard type delra'iring machines. "The hides r`are then placed in a revolving drum provided with a ghollow gudgeon, f'through which an 'alkaline solutionof chem-ical lime fis injected while the hides vare -f'thoroug'hly agitated, so that ftl-iey #are completely impregnated with f'the r'alkaline Esolution. This additional impregnation provides complete neutralization of `the amino 4vand fatty acids 'inthe hides, which are'repellantr-to thermoplastic material and would interferefwith "subsequent steps in the manufacture.

After 'alkalination the "alkaline solution 'is Y'withdrawn `from lthe drum, and sulph'onated "completely'neutral'sperm oil, which does not saponify withthe retainedalkalina'is injected through the gud'geon ofthe dru'm'in the proportion Vo'fapproximate1y'2"% `by`weig`ht of the 'full hide mass in the drum. This neutral sulphonate'dLsp'emioil extremely penetrating, and agitation of the hides in the drum causes the oil to be completely and uniformly absorbed by the hides, with the result that the lubricant is mechanically suspended and locked Within the interstices of the hide fibres.

The impregnated hides are now removed from the drum and are dried in air-conditioned drying compartments. The dried hide, thoroughly impregnated with sulphonated sperm oil and completely alkalivzed, is then impregnated with a suitable synthetic thermo-plastic material, such as phenol formaldehyde resin, although other plastic materials such as nylon and urea compounds are also suitable. 'I'he flexibility and the toughness of the resulting product is controlled by regulating the amount of plasticizer in the thermoplastic material, the percentage varying from to 50%, depending on the degree of flexibility and toughness desired. The plasticizer also serves to increase the strength of the resulting molded laminated product when subjected to extreme degrees of heat and cold. VA suitable plasticizer is tri-ethylene glycol di 2 ethyl butyrate.

After the hide has thus been impregnated with thermo-plastic material having the desired percentage of plasticizer, it is cut, breached or die cut' to a pre-determined size and shape. For certain rawhide articles it may be preferred to cut the impregnated hide to size first, and then to impregnate the cut pieces with the thermo-plastic material and plasticizer. The cut impregnated hide blanks may now be used to build up a laminated machine element of the desred'size and sheet l1 of thermo-plastic material is then positioned around the two laminations and a third lamination I8 is then mounted around the other laminations as illustrated. A cap I9 of U-shaped rawhide is then mounted over the impact end of the picker, with a sheet of thermo-plastic material 2i) between. The entire assembly is now Wrapped around with additional sheets of thermoplasticv material, and is subjected to regulated heat and pressure and molded into an integral one-piece laminated picker.

The molding of laminated rawhide products with thermo-plastic material has heretofore been diicult, as the extreme heat required to obtain the proper temperature for the mass in the interior` of the article was so great that the animal bres on the outside surface would become charred and burned before the animal fibres in the in- 'terior could reach the required temperature. I have found that the anima1 fibres of rawhide which has been prepared as above described will stand a tem-perature in excess Vof 300 degrees Fahrenheit without injury to the tensile strength, resiliency, pliability and other inherent qualities of the rawhide.

It is preferred to use a heating process which will uniformly raise the temperature throughout the assembled article blank. Although a conveyor type furnace may be used, in which the articles are inserted in a cold state and are then gradually and progressively passed through a heating furnace so as to obtain a gradual rise in temperature, or the articles may be heated in a chemical bath which is non-reactive and neutral 4 to the impregnated laminations and to the thermo-plastic material, it is preferred to use dielectric heating. 'I'he assembled article blank isplaced between two electro-static plates and the resulting electronic eld raises the temperature of the thermo-plastic material and the rawhide uniformly throughout the article blank so that the desired temperature rise is effected simultaneously throughout the entire mass, thus preventing any charring or injury.

'I'he body blank having been uniformly softened by bringing to the correct temperature, the preferred tem-perature being from 220 to 290 degrees Fahrenheit, is then immediately transferred to a compression mold of proper shape, which is preferably initially heated so as to maintain the temperature already imparted to the article blank. The most suitable type of compression mold is a standard split mold operated mechanically or hydraulically; the pressure Within the mold depends on the desired cure of the article, and may run from as low as 400 lbs. per square inch up to 3 or 4 thousand lbs. per square inch.

IThe applied pressure causes further impregnation of the rawhide with thermo-plastic material which varies somewhat directly with the amount of pressure applied, and a permanent plastic bond between the rawhide laminations results. The mold is then opened and the molded article removed and air-dried. The thermo-plastic material flashes resulting from the molding operation are then broken or buifed off, and the one-piece laminated article is ready for use. f

The finished rawhide article is thus completely enveloped in a shroud or sheath of thermoplastic material, is not affected by heat, moisture, acids, oils and other foreign materials, is completely insulated, and is a non-conductor of electricity. It is uniform in shape, has no rivets or other holding devicesy and its surfaces are completely smooth so that it will not catch filling, threads, or bind when in use. An advantage to the user is ease of operation. The core of the picker contains rawhide, which is the best material for resisting repeated shock and has a high tensile strength running to 18 thousand lbs. per square inch on a 1/8 inch cross section. I

In actual use when thep-icker is about to v be worn out, the tough rawhide in the core .shows preliminary evidence Aof breaking in sufficient time so that the loom operator will evidently remove the picker without causing damage to the fabric being woven. Since the picker is a machine element which is subjected to a reciprocating motion running vas high as250 times per minute, lubrication is required. Although the rawhide is initially sheathed with plastic, as the picker works lsmall areas of the rawhide come in pressure contact with the moving parts, such as the spindle rod and the picker stick, and, per.- mit the sealed-in lubricant to extrude to the engaging surfaces. It has also been foundthat the tensile strength of ordinary rawhide.

the oil locked in the rawhide fibres lubricates the fibres and keeps the rawhide pliable and resilient, so that the tensile strength of the rawhide is greatly increased to a figure substantially double Further, the rawhide cannot become dry or brittle, and the effective life 0f the picker is thus greatly increased.

Special one-piece molded articles, such aS.

I picker sticks, may be advantageously made by molding laminations of other animal fibre materials, such as leather, or vegetable fibre materials,

such as textiles, with thermo-plastic intermediate sheets, and with or without an outer sheath of thermo-plastic material, under uniform heat conditions and pressure as above described.

Although the invention has been described specifically with respect to the manufacture of a rawhide picker, the invention may be applied to any machine element made from laminated rawhide, such as for example laminated gears, gear blanks, mallets, hammers, impact tools, drawing guides and Stringing guides for wire and cord, sheaves and pulleys, temple rolls for loom parts, shuttles, and for the manufacture of rods, sheets and tubes from which laminated machine elements of any type, size and shape may be broached or cut, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as dened in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A one-piece molded article comprising layers of alkalized rawhide, said rawhide being impregnated with lubricating oil and thermoplastic material, said layers being bonded tobether by intermediate layers of thermo-plastic material and having an outer sheath of thermo= plastic material.

2. A one-piece picker comprising a central alkalized rawhide lamination, additional alkalized rawhide laminations folded over each end of the central lamination, said rawhide laminations being oil impregnated and bonded together by intermediate thermo-plastic material laminations, said laminations having an outer sheath of thermo-plastic material.

JOSEPH H. CHADBOURNE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 203,139 Gordon Apr. 30, 1878 781,350 Moser Jan. 31, 1905 907,961 Bowes Dec. 29, 1908 1,044,891 Kornder Nov. 19, 1912 1,618,031 Widmer Feb. 15, 1927 1,787,182 Weiss Dec. 30, 1930 1,801,064 Wynne Apr. 14, 1931 1,835,619 Walsh Dec. 8, 1931 1,958,220 Webb May 8, 1934 2,032,734 Bacon Mar. 3, 1936 2,182,045 Bell Dec. 5, 1939 2,191,367 Carothers Feb. 20, 1940 2,214,405 Coiman Sept. 10, 1940 2,217,961 McGill Oct. 15, 1940 2,219,447 Groff Oct. 29, 1940 2,245,140 Brahs June 10, 1941 2,308,393 Shivell Jan. 12, 1943 2,353,454 Gillet et al. July 11, 1944 2,396,715 McGrew Mar. 19, 1946 2,407,833 Jablonsky Sept. 17, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 863 Great Britain of 1870 2,210 Great Britain of 1870 289,218 Great Britain Apr. 26, 1928 314,679 Great Britain July 4, 1929 352,361 Great Britain Nov. 10, 1930 352,522 Great Britain Mar. 12, 1930 456,726 Great Britain Nov. 9, 1936 217,199 Y Switzerland Feb. 2, 1942 OTHER REFERENCES Synthetic Organic Chemical, Carbide and Carbon Chemical Corp., 10th Ed. (1940) pages 34-35. (Copy in Div. 50.) 

